Reduced Energy Consumption in Plastics
Engineering
RECIPE
EIE/04/153/S07.38646
Final Project Results
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RECIPE
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Name of Project
Reduced Energy Consumption in Plastics Engineering
Project Acronym
RECIPE
Contract Number
EIE/04/153/S07.38646
Project Duration
January 2005 – December 2007
Project Value
€894,376.00
Project Coordinator
Smithers Rapra Technology Ltd
Shawbury, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 4NR, UK
Project Website
www.eurecipe.com
This report provides details of the results of the RECIPE project and has been
prepared by Smithers Rapra using information provided by the project partners.
The sole responsibility for the content of this report lies with the authors. It does not necessarily
reflect the opinion of the European Communities. The European Commission is not
responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents..................................................................................................................................... 4
Summary.................................................................................................................................................... 6
Achieved Results ............................................................................................................................. 6
Lessons Learnt .................................................................................................................................. 7
About RECIPE............................................................................................................................................ 8
Why ‘RECIPE’? ................................................................................................................................. 8
The Objectives................................................................................................................................. 9
The Partners...................................................................................................................................... 9
Work Programme ................................................................................................................................... 11
Benchmarking ........................................................................................................................................ 13
Benchmarking Energy Use in Plastics Processing.......................................................................... 13
2005 Benchmarking Survey of Energy Consumption and Adoption of Best Practice ....... 13
Companies taking part ........................................................................................................... 13
Specific Energy Consumption (SEC)...................................................................................... 14
Cost of Energy and Fuels Used ............................................................................................... 15
Energy Awareness .................................................................................................................... 16
The Deliverable.............................................................................................................................. 18
Best Practice ........................................................................................................................................... 19
Best Practice for Low Energy Plastics Processing.......................................................................... 19
Review of Energy Management Practices, Best Practice & Trends within the Plastics
Processing Industry........................................................................................................................ 19
The Deliverable.............................................................................................................................. 21
Low Energy Plastics Processing: A European Best Practice Guide ....................................... 21
Best Practice.............................................................................................................................. 22
Act Now! .................................................................................................................................... 23
The Deliverable.............................................................................................................................. 25
Design Fundamentals............................................................................................................................ 26
Design Fundamentals for Energy Efficiency .................................................................................. 26
The Deliverable.............................................................................................................................. 26
Tools for Energy Reduction ................................................................................................................... 28
Cost of Ownership Model ............................................................................................................ 28
The COM application .............................................................................................................. 28
Validation................................................................................................................................... 30
Testing and Feedback............................................................................................................. 31
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The Deliverable.............................................................................................................................. 32
Energy Managers Toolkit.............................................................................................................. 32
The ‘Quick Check’.................................................................................................................... 32
The ‘Energy Review’................................................................................................................. 33
The Deliverable.............................................................................................................................. 35
Dissemination.......................................................................................................................................... 36
Review and Present New Ideas .................................................................................................. 36
The Deliverable.............................................................................................................................. 36
The Project Website ...................................................................................................................... 37
The Deliverable.............................................................................................................................. 38
Press Releases and Publications ................................................................................................. 39
Examples of published press releases.................................................................................... 39
Seminars and Presentations ........................................................................................................ 40
Posters, Flyers and Dissemination Material ................................................................................ 41
Conclusions............................................................................................................................................. 42
ENER-Plast ....................................................................................................................................... 42
Key Results ...................................................................................................................................... 43
Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 43
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Chapter
1 Summary
The European polymer industry is one of the most important sectors in the EU, with an
aggregate production of almost 40 billion tonnes, representing a value of some €250 million
and applications in a vast variety of industries. However, the sector is mainly dominated by
SMEs who are coming under increasing pressure from low wage economies as well as
increases in EU enforced legislation, and a rise in the price of energy and materials. The
volatility of oil prices, the buoyant global demand for energy products and the rapid
economic growth of China and India has resulted in testing business conditions for the
industry with optimism and confidence at an all time low.
With rising energy costs, soaring raw material prices and the impacts of climate change the
need to monitor and reduce energy consumption is more important than ever. As with most
industries, controlling costs is critical to sustainability and profitability, however, energy costs
can be controlled and often reduced, by implementing measures that do not require
significant investment. Energy efficiency offers short- and long-term benefits and by
increasing the efficiency of a business the bottom line can be strengthened.
RECIPE (Reduced Energy Consumption in Plastics Engineering) aimed to provide European
plastics processors with the knowledge, justification and tools needed to reduce their energy
consumption through the implementation of best practice and the introduction of new
technologies.
A consortium was drawn together of eight European RTOs from six of the major plastics
processing nations with a high profile and reputation for excellence within the target group.
Achieved Results
During the 36-month action the following achievements were made:
The ‘2005 European Benchmarking Survey and Adoption of Best Practice’ report was
written using data collected from the benchmarking questionnaire. In total, 246
companies from 13 different countries participated.
A ‘Review of Energy Management Practices, Best Practice and Trends within the Plastics
Processing Industry’ was conducted and the resulting report made available for
download from the project website.
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‘Low Energy Plastics Processing: A European Best Practice Guide’ was published in 6
languages and made available in both printed and electronic format. Over 2,000 copies
of the Guide were downloaded from the project website.
A series of factsheets entitled ‘Design Fundamentals for Energy Efficiency’ were produced
and made available to download from the project website.
A ‘Cost of Ownership Model’ was developed to enable processors calculate the cost of
operating a piece of equipment over its project lifetime, based on energy efficiency and
projected usage. The available reports show comparisons of the lifetime cost of different
machines as well as the differences in the cost when producing a specific part.
An ‘interactive toolkit’ was developed and integrated into the RECIPE website to help
plastics processors understand how energy is being used at their plant and how to save
energy and money. The toolkit provides an overview of the energy that a plant
purchases and the major systems that consume energy and provides a report that helps
the user to understand where the largest opportunities are for energy and cost saving.
Six newsletters were published and distributed across Europe in both electronic and
printed format.
A project website was developed (www.eurecipe.com) and widely disseminated.
Information resources and software applications were made available through the
website for organisations to access to help them reduce their energy consumption.
A comprehensive dissemination programme was conducted including seminars,
participation in conferences and exhibitions, press releases, posters and electronic media.
Lessons Learnt
The results of the ‘2005 Benchmarking Survey of Energy Consumption and Adoption of
Best Practice’ show that there is a low level of energy management and awareness
within the plastics processing industry. It also demonstrated that there was a need for the
RECIPE project in order to increase the understanding of the business benefits of lower
energy consumption. The survey generated enough information to set benchmarks for
specific energy consumption across Europe, and enables processors to calculate their
own energy consumption and compare themselves against the average.
Energy costs are frequently a secondary consideration after machine, staff and material
costs within the plastics processing industry. However, energy efficiency should be a key
contributor to improving productivity and is an essential part of good management.
There is a large variation in the cost per unit of energy, types of fuel utilised and attitudes
towards energy issues across Europe. However, the future of the European plastics
industry may depend in how we manage the issue of energy consumption and its
increasing cost.
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Chapter
2 About RECIPE
The European plastics processing industry faces intense competition from lower wage
economies and an alarming rise in energy prices. To remain competitive a business must
have an effective energy management process, good market knowledge and an awareness
of technology and support mechanisms.
RECIPE (Reduced Energy Consumption in Plastics Engineering) was a three-year project to
provide European plastics processors with the knowledge, justification and tools needed to
reduce their energy consumption through the implementation of best practice and the
introduction of new technologies.
The European plastics processing industry comprises more than 27,000 companies (more than
80% SMEs), employing more than one million people, and with total sales over 100 million
Euros. The industry is a key customer of the chemical and petrochemical industries, and sits
within many key product supply chains, as plastics products and components are essential
within markets as diverse as vehicles, packaging, construction, electrical/electronic,
medical/surgical, leisure and diverse consumer and industrial goods.
Why ‘RECIPE’?
The foundations of RECIPE were developed from recommendations of the Technology
Roadmap (TRM) for Low Energy Polymer Processing conducted by the Faraday Plastics
Partnership (a UK organization with the aim of improving the competitiveness of the UK
plastics industry through research, development, transfer and exploitation of new and
improved science and technology).
Technology Roadmapping is a high level tool for supporting technology management and
planning which has been widely adopted in industry to support national and sector
‘foresight’ initiatives. In its most basic form, a TRM can be considered as a time-based chart
consisting of a number of layers that can typically include commercial, technological,
legislative and environmental perspectives.
The recommendations of the TRM aimed to catalyze the plastics industry into measuring its
energy use performance and change for the better. This includes industry benchmarking
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and sectoral targets – a performance of market research to study how energy efficient the
polymer processing sector is in its current practices, a demonstration unit – establishing a
‘show and tell unit’ to illustrate the benefits of energy efficiency, a cost of ownership model –
establishing a financial model for typical paybacks to incentivize the industry to adopt energy
saving measures and training – in energy measurement and management.
The Objectives
Collation of existing knowledge, material and experience from across the EU, with the
intention of promoting the best of the best
Development of industry specific web-based energy saving tools
Look beyond current best practice to provide the industry with information on novel
technologies and practices
Dissemination programme which will increase the awareness throughout the European
plastics processing industry of the most recent energy reducing technologies and
materials development
The Partners
A consortium was drawn together of eight European RTOs from six of the major plastics
processing nations with a high profile and reputation for excellence within the target group.
Europe’s leading independent plastics and rubber research and
technology organisation providing specialist technical, commercial and
information services for the polymer industry and end-user industries
Smithers Rapra Technology
(UK)
including the automotive, construction, electrical, medical, offshore,
packaging and polyurethane sectors.
The BPF is the leading trade association for the UK plastics industry
(representing approximately 80% of turnover), a springboard for industry
action, existing to exploit common opportunities and resolve shared
British Plastics Federation (UK)
problems. Membership encompasses producers, suppliers and processors
in addition to additive and machinery suppliers and manufacturers.
The Danish Technology Institute is a not for profit organisation that
promotes growth by improving interaction and encouraging synergy
Danish Technology Institute
between research organisations, businesses and the community.
(Denmark)
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ASCAMM+ is a not for profit organisation founded in 1979. It currently has
over 200 members comprising of a workforce of over 4000 people.
ASCAMM+’s activities include specialised training, promotion of the
ASCAMM+ (Spain)
industry and advisory services.
AIMPLAS is an innovation and technology centre based in Spain.
Founded in 1990, AIMPLAS conducts research within the plastics
transformation sector in order to increase the competitiveness of the
AIMPLAS (Spain)
plastics industry and related sectors.
Pôle Européen de Plasturgie was founded in 1990 with the assistance of
the plastics industry: transformers, mould and die manufacturers, machine
manufacturers, plastic producers and toolmakers. It aims to increases the
competitiveness of the industry by improving the research and
Pôle Européen de Plasturgie
technology developments, from design to finished product.
(France)
CRIF-Wallonie started life in 1969 as CRIF Plastics; in order to answer the
specific needs of the plastic processing members of Agoria. The main
activities can be split into three areas; engineering of materials including
the design of high tech components in plastic and metal, smart
CRIF – Wallonie (Belgium)
manufacturing and process and rapid manufacturing.
The research and design expertise of the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical
Technology ICT is primarily geared towards products and processes in the
Fraunhofer Institut fuer
Chemische Technologie ICT
fields of polymer engineering, environmental engineering,
electrochemistry and energetic materials.
(Germany)
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Chapter
3 Work Programme
The RECIPE work programme was structured into 9 work packages:
1. National Best Practice and Benchmarking
2. EU and Rest of World Best Practice
3. Design Fundamentals for Energy Efficiency
4. Cost of Ownership Model
5. Tools for Energy Reduction
6. Review and Present New Ideas
7. Dissemination within EU and Accession States
8. Common Dissemination Activities
9. Management
The links between the work packages can be seen below:
The work programme was divided into four main strands. The first incorporated work
packages WP1 and WP3, in which existing knowledge, material and experience from across
the EU was collated in order to promote the ‘best of the best’.
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This also included the development of a European Best Practice Guide for the plastics
processing industry. The Guide is highly industry specific and provides advice relating to eight
specific processes as well as understanding energy, energy management and utilities and
peripherals.
The second strand (WP4 and WP5) built on the knowledge of the consortium to develop an
industry specific ‘Energy Managers Toolkit’. The ‘toolkit’ is an online application to help
plastics processors understand how energy is being used at their plant and how to save
energy and money. Included in the ‘toolkit’ is a ‘Cost of Ownership Model’ which enables
processors to calculate the cost of operating a piece of equipment over its projected
lifetime, based on energy efficiency and projected usage.
Within the third strand, (WP6) RECIPE looked beyond current best practice and provided the
plastics processing industry with a regular stream of information on energy saving
technologies and practices.
The final strand incorporated the two dissemination work packages (WP7 and WP8). This
included seminars, posters, publicity material, press releases, newsletters and e-zines.
Finally, running in parallel with the four delivery strands for the duration of the project, WP9
encompassed the general management of RECIPE.
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Chapter
4 Benchmarking
Benchmarking Energy Use in Plastics Processing
Benchmarking is the process of assessing and setting targets for improvement and
achievement in order to reduce costs, save money and improve performance. Energy
benchmarking is the collection, analysis and reporting of data to provide industrial
companies with context for assessing comparative energy efficiencies. It is an important
means of energy management, which allows companies to compare themselves with the
‘best of the best’.
Using energy more efficiently helps a business improve its productivity and bottom line,
making it more competitive, while reducing greenhouse gases that contribute to climate
change. Energy benchmarking and monitoring allows a company to identify deficiencies
and adapt to a better practice.
2005 Benchmarking Survey of Energy Consumption and Adoption of Best
Practice
The RECIPE project conducted a benchmarking questionnaire-based survey of the European
plastics industry to assess energy usage, management and awareness. The objective was to
aid plans to reduce the amount used, and cost, of energy. The survey and data analysis was
carried out between April and September 2005: highlights included:
Companies taking part
A total of 165 completed questionnaires were received from across the EU covering both
SMEs and larger companies serving a wide range of markets. The average number of
employees was in the category 50 – 249 whilst the average turnover was in the region of €10
million. The majority of these returns were from Germany, Spain, and the UK. They cover most
of the processes that are carried out within the plastics industry and, as such as a valuable
contribution to the benchmarking survey and future plans to reduce the amount, and cost, of
energy used within the industry.
The largest process group was injection moulding and a separate analysis was carried out
with this data to assess the influence on ‘SEC’ of machine size, and electric vs. hydraulic.
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The average age of the machinery across the complete sample was 9 years, with
Germany having the most modern machinery at 6 years and the UK the oldest at 13
years.
Over 60% of the companies worked 24hrs and 5 days, 20% worked 24/7, and the
remainder worked a variety of other shift patterns.
The average machine utilisation was 75%, ranging from the UK at 70% to Spain at 79%.
Following the publication of the report, a further 81 questionnaires have been submitted.
Specific Energy Consumption (SEC)
The average site ‘specific energy consumption’ was 2.87 kW/kg/hr and varied mainly by
business type, but also by country.
Compounding
0.631
Fibre Extrusion
Av erage SEC (kW/kg/hr)
0.85
Film Extrusion
1.346
Profile Extrusion
1.506
Injection Moulding
3.118
Compression Mouldig
3.168
Rotational Moulding
5.828
Thermoforming
6.179
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Average Specific Energy Consumption (kW/kg/hr) by business type
The average ‘SEC’ for eight different business types ranged from 0.63 for compounding to
6.179 for vacuum thermoforming. The different values reflected the complexity of each
process and conformed to expectation.
The age of the buildings and whether they were ‘purpose built’ or not appeared to make
negligible difference to the ‘SEC’.
Within injection moulding, ‘SEC’ was higher for 25 – 150 tonnes (clamp force) machines
and lower when electric machines were used, as opposed to hydraulic.
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3.494
UK
2.925
Germany
Spain
1.937
Ov erall
2.867
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Average Specific Energy Consumption (kW/kg/hr) by country
The variation between countries was most likely due to the age of the machinery and
business, as well as the mix of business types. The UK had the highest ‘SEC’ of 3.5, but also
the oldest machinery; Germany was close to the average at 2.9, whilst Spain was the
lowest at 1.95.
Site ‘specific energy consumption’ can be seen as primarily a function of the process carried
out, with smaller influences due to the age, size and efficiency of the machinery being used,
plus a base load for the site infrastructure. The figures quoted in the report should now be
used as a benchmark for the industry, enabling processors to calculate their own ‘site SEC’
and compare themselves against the European average. If they find that they are above
the average then a programme of energy reduction should be undertaken. Even if they are
close to the average there will still be room for improvement as roughly 50% of the sample
must be better than average!
Cost of Energy and Fuels Used
The average cost of energy for respondents across Europe over a 12-month period was 0.08
€/kWh, but ranged from 0.04 for Poland to 0.10 for Germany. The variation could be due to a
variety of factors such as exchange rates, the small number of returns from some countries
and because the data could not be guaranteed to cover a consistent period of time. An
additional factor was the mixture of fuels, 80% of the UK respondents used both gas and
electricity in comparison to Spain which was very reliant upon electricity. The survey
illustrated that where a company uses a mixture of fuel, it is likely that their average cost per
kWh will be lower. In fact, those using more than two types of fuel paid significantly less per
kWh for their fuel.
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Poland
France
€/KWh
Greece
Switzerland
UK
Belgium
Austria
Spain
Germany
Italy
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
Overview of energy costs (€/kWh) by country
Very few companies generated their own electricity and only 14% purchased electricity from
a local generation scheme or recovered energy for reuse. The exception was Germany
where approximately 70% of respondents purchased from a local scheme and recovered
energy for reuse.
Energy Awareness
Around 30% of the companies responding to the survey claimed to adhere to a written
energy policy, although some of these were incorporated within an overall environmental
policy statement.
The UK at 50% was significantly higher than other countries, which may reflect the high
take up of energy audits, funded by government through the Carbon Trust.
Less than 5% actually employ a full time energy manager.
About 55% of companies have ensured that a senior manager has responsibility for
energy management.
Almost 30% of those who completed the questionnaire have ISO 14000 certification which
is a good starting point for energy management. However, this does mean that 70% of
those who completed the questionnaire did not have ISO 14000.
EMAS is a natural progression from ISO14000 so it is not surprising that a lower number
have EMAS registration, but such a low figure of 5% is surprising.
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Only 20% had an energy audit in the last 5 years, most of these in the UK.
Around 40% had made use of energy consultants.
Less than 30% monitored energy on each machine.
An energy awareness score, arrived at from the responses in this section, had a potential
maximum of 16. About 60% of companies scored less than 4, which was the average for the
whole sample. Only 1% scored in the range 14 to 16. As it is likely that most of those
companies returning a questionnaire were already concerned about energy, the conclusion
must be that we still have a long way to go in energy management.
Attitudes towards energy can be summarised as follows: The UK plastics industry far from monitoring energy usually treats it as a fixed overhead.
This approach is very different to the remainder of the respondents where roughly half
allocate energy to specific machines or jobs. It is clear that being able to allocate costs
to a specific job is one of the best ways of controlling and reducing costs, and this may
partly explain the higher ‘sec’ within the UK. Hence, a review of overhead costing within
the UK is required to assist in the target of reducing energy usage and hence carbon
dioxide emissions.
60% of companies felt that unless firm action was taken now to combat rising energy
costs, significant damage could be done to the plastics industry within Europe in the near
future.
The heartening response to the question on the Kyoto protocol was that almost 50% felt
that reducing energy usage was everybody’s responsibility, with only 25% claiming to put
their own business interests first.
The ‘2005 Benchmarking Survey of Energy Consumption and Adoption of Best Practice’
generated enough information to set benchmarks for specific energy consumption, across
Europe, for eight different plastics processes. It also provides insights regarding the influence
of, age and type of building, age and size of machinery, and country of operation, which
may reflect differing governmental influence.
The general attitude to the ‘energy’ issue amongst respondents was positive but, from the low
energy awareness score, it is apparent that a lot of improvement could still be made. It is
important, therefore, that all companies review their energy position, compare themselves
against the benchmark data, and implement changes accordingly. Their future, and that of
the plastics industry in Europe, could depend upon how we manage the issue of energy
consumption and increasing costs.
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The Deliverable
The ‘2005 Benchmarking Survey of Energy
Consumption and Adoption of Best Practice’ is
available to download from the RECIPE website
(www.eurecipe.com), in five different languages,
English, German, Spanish, French and Italian.
The data collected in the survey was also used in the
development of the ‘Energy Managers Toolkit’ and
provides information in the ‘Low Energy Plastics
Processing: A European Best Practice Guide’.
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Chapter
5 Best Practice
Best Practice for Low Energy Plastics Processing
There are many reasons for wanting to improve your energy efficiency, however, the most
compelling reason for the plastics processing industry is that wasting energy costs money and
this is reflected in the bottom line. With rising energy costs, soaring raw material prices and
the impacts of climate change the need to monitor and reduce energy consumption is more
important than ever before.
As with most industries, controlling costs is critical to sustainability. However, energy costs can
be controlled and often reduced, by implementing measures that do not require significant
investment. In many cases improvements can be made for low or no cost, by making slight
changes to the way a process or equipment is operated to optimise its performance.
In order to assist the European plastics processing industry in becoming energy efficient,
RECIPE wrote and disseminated two important best practice guidance documents:
1. Review of Energy Management Practices, Best Practice & Trends within the Plastics
Processing Industry
2. Low Energy Plastics Processing: A European Best Practice Guide
Review of Energy Management Practices, Best Practice & Trends within
the Plastics Processing Industry
The RECIPE consortium conducted a survey of information related to best practice guidance
and energy efficiency in the plastics processing industry. The resulting report ‘Review of
Energy Management Practices, Best Practice & Trends within the Plastics Processing Industry’
drew together the national guidelines available to establish what constitutes best practice for
the industry. Information was compiled from European and non-European countries.
In total, forty-two documents were sourced and divided into the following categories:
40% were best practice guidelines specifically aimed at the plastics industry
7% were case studies illustrating examples of best practice in the plastics industry
5% were case studies illustrating examples of best practice within the manufacturing
sector, but applicable to the plastics industry
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31% were best practice guidelines relating to energy efficiency in any industry
10% were national energy strategies
7% were technical guides for the plastics industry
The survey was carried out between March and September 2005, and included a review of
Spain, Germany, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Denmark and New Zealand. The
results of the survey found:
ASIA
CANADA
There are very few guidelines readily available in
There are many Canadian organisations playing a
Asia, however, in some areas energy efficiency
dynamic role in helping Canadians save millions of
and conservation is becoming an important issue.
dollars in energy costs while addressing the
The Energy Resources Section of the Economic
challenges of climate change. All of the
and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific
organisations provide users of their website a
(ESCAP), concluded that energy benchmarking
comprehensive publications and downloads
should be used in all energy intensive enterprises
section providing information on how to save
on the basis of best practice and a system of
energy and money and help protect the
energy auditing should be established in order to
environment while reducing greenhouse gas
identify current patterns of energy usage and to
emissions that contribute to climate change.
point out areas of potential savings.
DENMARK
SPAIN
Denmark promotes energy efficiency, renewables
There are several organisations promoting the
and combined heat and power production (CHP).
efficient use of energy in the country. For
It has set itself several targets including producing
example, the Institute for Energy Diversification
20% of its electricity from renewables and
and Saving (IDAE) promotes energy efficiency
reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 21% in the
and the rational use of energy, supports the
first budget period 2008 – 2012 compared to 1990.
diversification of sources of supply and promotes
There is also a stringent national commitment to
the use of renewable sources of energy. The
reduce CO2 emissions by 20% by 2005, compared
Institute carries out dissemination, awareness
to 1988.
raising and advisory services for all energyconsuming sectors.
NEW ZEALAND
GERMANY
In March 2005, the New Zealand Cabinet
There are no best practice guides or publications,
confirmed a policy to assist energy intensive
specific to energy efficiency and plastics
businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
processing available in Germany. However, there
and to alleviate the possible adverse effects of the
is information available regarding environmental
new carbon tax through improved energy
protection as a result of national and feasibility
efficiency.
studies, (Example: Gosner, 2000).
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UNITED KINGDOM
UNITED STATES
There are many organisations promoting energy
The plastics industry consumes approximately 6%
efficiency in industry, and specifically the plastics
of all the energy used by U.S. industries, and is
industry. For example, the Carbon Trust is an
valued at $6 billion. The DOE estimates that
independent company funded by the
reducing the plastics industry energy use by as
Government to help the UK move to a low carbon
little as 1% by 2010 may reduce the total annual
economy. Their aim is to help businesses and the
energy costs by $100 million. In 2003, the Society
public sector reduce carbon emissions and
of the Plastics Industry Inc. and DOE formed a
capture the commercial opportunities of low
partnership to identify the potential for plastics
carbon technologies.
manufacturers to reduce their overall energy use,
enhance productivity and save money.
The Deliverable
The ‘Review of Energy Management Practices, Best
Practice and Trends within the Plastics Processing
Industry Across the World’ is available to download
from the RECIPE website (www.eurecipe.com).
The data collected in the review was used as a
starting point for the development of the RECIPE
European Best Practice Guide. In addition, it also
highlighted that there was limited information
available specifically to the plastics processing
industry and what was available had been published
in the 1990’s. It was considered that there had been
many changes in manufacturing practices and
energy purchasing in this time, and therefore much of the information was out-of-date.
Furthermore, much of the information was difficult to find and time consuming to locate.
Low Energy Plastics Processing: A European Best Practice Guide
Energy efficiency offers short- and long-term benefits and by increasing the efficiency of a
business the bottom line can be strengthened. In order to help European plastics processors
make rational and informed decisions about the use of energy on their site, RECIPE wrote and
published ‘Low Energy Plastics Processing: A European Best Practice Guide’.
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The Guide was written to help organisations plan and implement an energy efficiency
programme and designed for use by anyone recognising that not everyone has time to
undertake a full energy management programme. The Guide was designed to help
organisations undertake an energy audit and identify measures where energy and cost
savings can be made most easily. Each chapter contains useful tips and actions to take,
individual case studies and no-cost, low-cost and capital expenditure solutions to help
reduce energy consumption.
Best Practice
There are many reasons why an organisation should take energy efficiency seriously, from
improving their economic health to helping to reduce damage to the environment. Many
measures can also bring substantial benefits in terms of employee comfort through improved
heating, insulation and the avoidance of cold spots. In addition, attention to energy
efficiency can often highlight deficiencies in other areas such as maintenance, process yield
and quality therefore giving significant additional productivity benefits.
Additionally, an increasing amount of regulations and directives at both a national and
European level are being applied to drive improvements in energy efficiency. It is not just a
matter of operating efficiently; it can also be a factor in operating legally.
In order to support the European plastics processing industry in becoming more energy
efficient, the RECIPE consortium published ‘Low Energy Plastics Processing: A European Best
Practice Guide’. Information collected from the Benchmarking Survey (WP1) and the Best
Practice Review (WP2) was used to produce a Guide for all levels of management and
operational staff, and provide a structured and practical approach to improving energy
efficiency when plastics processing.
Developed for companies that want to achieve more strategic control over rising energy
costs, the Guide outlines opportunities to encourage processors make energy efficiency a
part of their operating procedures and contains useful techniques, tools, tips and practical
advice to get started.
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Table of Contents from ‘Low Energy Plastics Processing: European Best Practice Guide
Contents
1. Introduction
9. Composites
9.1 Manufacturing with composite materials
2. Understanding Energy
9.2 Reducing energy consumption when
2.1 When are you using energy?
manufacturing composite materials
2.2 Why are you using energy?
2.3 Where are you using energy?
10. Compression Moulding
2.4 How much energy are you using?
10.1 The compression moulding process
2.5 Benchmarking your performance
10.2 Reducing energy consumption in
compression moulding
2.6 Purchasing energy
Pendulum Storage
3. Renewable Energy
3.1 The EC White Paper on Renewable Energy
11. Utilities and Peripherals
Sources
11.1 Heating and lighting
3.2 Renewable energy sources
11.2 Light source selection
11.3 Energy efficient electronic ballasts
4. Injection Moulding
11.4 Energy efficient lighting fixtures
4.1 The injection moulding process
11.5 Light regulation according to daylight
4.2 Reducing energy consumption in the
penetration
injection moulding process
11.6 Motion sensors (PIR)
Case Study: Potential savings when fitting a
11.7 Ventilation
variable speed drive
11.8 Cooling water
5. Extrusion
11.9 Compressed air
5.1 The extrusion process
11.10 Hydraulic motors
5.2 Reducing energy consumption in the
11.11Standby time
extrusion process
Case Study: Increasing efficiency through
12. Energy Management
12.1 The advantages of energy efficiency
innovative machine technology
12.2 Energy awareness survey
6. Blow Moulding
12.3 Effective implementation
6.1 The blow moulding process
12.4 Top-level commitment
6.2 Reducing energy consumption in the blow
12.5 Leadership
moulding process
12.6 Company awareness
Case Study: ‘Air Wizard’ Optimisation
12.7 Communication
7. Rotational Moulding
12.8 Empowerment
7.1 The Rotational Moulding Process
7.2 Reducing energy consumption in the
rotational moulding process
8. Thermoforming
8.1 The thermoforming process
8.2 Reducing energy consumption in the
thermoforming process
Act Now!
Each chapter within the Best Practice Guide included ‘Act Now! 10 Tips to Reduce your
Energy Consumption’, with the aim of providing simple and easy to follow action points that
could easily be implemented by an organisation and show quick results. For example:
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Act Now! 10 Tips to Reduce your Energy Consumption when Injection Moulding
1.
Is the process stable and run with consistent settings?
Check the parameters of the injection moulding and ancillary equipment to ensure they are
constant. Inconsistencies may mean an unstable process that can lead to defective parts and
increased consumption of energy.
2.
Are the parameters optimised for the part being produced?
Check that the clamping force is not higher than required and that the cooling time and
holding pressure are not excessive.
3.
Is the cycle time optimised?
Shorter cycle times mean less absorbed power.
4.
Are scrap levels reviewed periodically?
Implement procedures to reduce scrap. There are injection-moulding ‘expert systems’ available
that communicate with the machine to automatically correct parts. Reducing scrap levels can
help to reduce your energy consumption.
5.
Is mould performance reviewed periodically?
Some scrap parts may be caused by damage to, or the incorrect design of, the mould.
Reviewing mould performance can help to reduce your scrap levels.
6.
Is the machine suitable for the type of product being molded?
Some products need a specific screw (e.g. PVC products)
7.
Are you running the correct ancillary equipment?
Has the most suitable drying, chilling or heating system been selected?
8.
Is there a regular maintenance procedure for the injection-moulding machine and ancillary
equipment?
When reducing your energy consumption it is good practice to carry out routine maintenance
on heat exchangers and cooling channels in moulds.
9.
Do you have a procedure for energy saving during long down times?
When reducing your energy consumption it is good practice to carry out routine maintenance
on heat exchangers and cooling channels in moulds.
10.
Conduct a time and motion study to see if it is possible to reduce the process cycle time
through the introduction of a new technology such as robotics and automation systems.
In addition, the ‘Act Now!’ points were used in the Energy Managers Toolkit to highlight to
users what they should be doing to reduce the energy consumption of their organisation.
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The Deliverable
‘Low Energy Plastics Processing: A European Best Practice
Guide’ was one of the most important and successful
deliverables of the RECIPE project.
The Guide was made available as a download from
www.eurecipe.com in 6 languages (English, Spanish,
German, French, German and Italian). An initial target of
1,000 downloads was set at the start of RECIPE, however,
this was more than doubled and during the project 2,059
downloads of the Guide were achieved.
Printed copies of the Guide were also made available and
were distributed at exhibitions, conferences, seminars, and to those who requested copies
through the website.
The Best Practice Guide was widely disseminated across Europe and was reviewed by many
industry publications including:
Engineering Talk
‘Best Practice for low energy plastics processing’
Modern Plastics Worldwide
‘Guide shows how to realise energy saving’
Polymer Cluster
‘New Guide advises best practice for low energy
plastics processing’
Reinforced Plastics
‘Guide identifies energy saving techniques’
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Chapter
6 Design Fundamentals
Design Fundamentals for Energy Efficiency
In the plastics industry energy consumption, as well as the generation of waste energy and
emissions that are environmentally harmful, can be attributed to four main sources:
1. The tooling used to process plastics (e.g. a plastic injection moulding tool) is badly
designed due to a poor understanding of tool materials and/or an inadequate
understanding of heat flow in the tooling
2. A lack of appreciation of how the placement/geometry of cooling channels can
critically influence process cycle time and thereby the amount of energy lost by the
tool in the form of heat that is transferred from the tool to the liquid coolant
3. Poor design of the pump/heat exchanger system used to supply and circulate
cooling fluid to the plastic forming tools
4. The use of indirect cooling systems that employ cold water to cool tools. In such
systems cold water is used to cool a group of forming machines and as a
consequence the temperature of the water is usually determined by the forming
machine that requires the coldest water. By designing individual cooling systems or
by grouping machines according to the amount of cooling required, very significant
energy savings can be achieved.
In order to assist the industry in reducing their energy consumption, the Danish Technological
Institute supported by Smithers Rapra published a series of case studies and factsheets
demonstrating fundamental design principals and highlighting how work in each of the
above areas has led to significant reductions in energy consumption.
The Deliverable
In total, DTI published eight factsheets on design fundamentals for energy efficiency in
plastics processing. The factsheets were made available to download from the RECIPE
website (www.eurecipe.com) and printed copies were distributed at seminars, exhibitions,
workshops and conferences. Below are four examples of the Design Fundamentals
factsheets:
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Case Study: Cooling plant at LEGO uses water as a
Case Study: Energy savings with groundwater
refrigerant
cooling
Water as refrigerant
Case Study: Water loop design optimisation at
Superfos Packaging
The additional factsheets include:
Energy savings by optimised water loop design
Energy savings in plastics processing
Software packages for minimising energy consumption
Mould design aspects to minimise energy consumption
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Chapter
Tools for Energy
7 Reduction
Providing companies with the means to understand, monitor and evaluate the energy usage
of their operation could significantly reduce the energy consumption of the plastics
processing industry. To support this, the RECIPE consortium developed and widely
disseminated two industry specific software applications that:
1. demonstrates the total cost of ownership of piece of equipment
2. enables an energy manager to evaluate the energy efficiency of key areas of an
organisation against benchmark values
The applications were then integrated into the RECIPE website (www.eurecipe.com) to
become an ‘Energy Managers Toolkit’ for the plastics processing industry.
Cost of Ownership Model
Manufacturers of machinery and equipment quote the cost of delivering their product to the
customer, and purchasing decisions are often based on these initial costs. However, due to
energy savings throughout the lifetime of a piece of equipment (and other costs) the lifetime
cost of a piece of equipment is very different. This is certainly the case with all-electric
injection moulding machines, which are typically more expensive to buy than hydraulic
machines, but over the entire lifetime are substantially less expensive to own and run due to
the energy savings.
The RECIPE ‘Cost of Ownership Model’, developed predominately by ASCAMM+, enables
processors to calculate the cost of operating a piece of equipment over its projected
lifetime, based on energy efficiency and projected usage. The available reports show
comparisons of the lifetime cost of different machines as well as the differences in the cost
when producing a specific part.
The COM application
The RECIPE COM uses 6 categories to estimate the lifetime cost of a specific piece of
equipment:
1. Material Costs
2. Running costs (including energy)
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3. Investment costs
4. Installation costs
5. Maintenance costs
6. Disposal costs
Information relating to different
machines is first entered into the
application. This includes:
Machine type (hydraulic, electric,
hybrid)
Installed power
Energy factor
Machine cost
Installation cost
Disposal cost
Next, information relating to the part
to be produced on the machine is
entered. This includes:
Number of cavities
Scrap
Part weight
Sprue weight
A number of reports can then be
selected, including:
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Cost Part Comparison
Cost Elements Comparison
Lifetime Cost Part Comparison
Cost Part Report
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Validation
In order to validate the results of the ‘Cost of Ownership Model’, ASCAMM+ conducted a
series of comparison tests using three software packages currently available on the market:
1. Polybridge Cost Calculator – An Injection Moulding calculator
2. ASCAMM Cost Calculator
3. Bayer Cost Calculator - A raw part production cost calculator
The comparison was made using four different moulded parts:
PART 1 – Car Bumper
Weight
5.5kg
Cycle Time
70 sec
Material
97% PP with mineral charge (20%) – 3% EPDM
Average wall thickness: 3mm
Mould cost
€500,000
1 Cavity, hot runner manifold, sequential injection
PART 2 – BHID: Craneoclip
Weight
0.397gr
Cycle Time
21 sec
Material
PEEK (poly ether-ether-Ketone)
Average wall thickness: 1.5mm
Mould cost
€15,000
4 Cavities, Hot runner manifold
PART 3 – Fresh Cheese Cup
Weight
16,732gr
Cycle time
5.5 sec
Material
PP
Average wall thickness: 0.8mm
Mould cost
€250,000
16 cavities, Hot runner manifold
PART 4 – Glass Bioscreen
Weight
9.65gr
Cycle time
18 sec
Material
PS
Average wall thickness: 2.5mm
Mould cost
€12,000
1 cavity, hot gate
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The table below shows the results of the comparisons using the parts specified above, and
demonstrates that the results of the RECIPE COM are similar to those of the other available
applications.
Polybridge
Bayer
ASCAMM
RECIPE COM
9.365 €/part
8.9300 €/part
9.7565 €/part
9.953 €/part
BHID Craneoclip
0.05820 €/part
0.06 €/part
0.05847 €/part
0.06027 €/part
Fresh Cheese Cup
0.08758 €/part
0.09 €/part
0.09143 €/part
0.06027 €/part
Glass Bioscreen
0.08053 €/part
0.06 €/part
0.07945 €/part
0.07956 €/part
Car Bumper
The Bayer Cost Calculator does show a slight difference in cost, however, this is due to the
fact that it does not take into account the efficiency of the process in the production time
calculation. It was concluded that the RECIPE ‘Cost of Ownership Model’ does provide
reliable results.
Testing and Feedback
During the development of the COM a programme of industrial testing was performed in
order to gather comments and feedback on the application and to assess it relevance and
applicability to the industry. Comments from the testing panels included:
‘I had a play with the program. It is definitely very impressive and I would happily endorse it.’
(Injection moulding machine manufacturer)
‘I have made a series of tests with colleagues and also CRIF members, and the tool was
found very useful’
(CRIF)
‘The final version of this software is a very useable tool that will enable purchase decisions to
be made on a whole cost of ownership basis. Thus equipment that may appear more
expensive to purchase may actually be shown to be a cheaper option over the lifetime of
the machine. This may encourage the purchase of lower energy consuming machinery such
as all electric IM machines as opposed to hydraulic machinery.’
(Consultant, Smithers Rapra)
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The Deliverable
The RECIPE ‘Cost of Ownership Model’
was made available as a download
from www.eurecipe.com. It formed
part of the ‘Energy Managers Toolkit’
along with a system for assessing the
energy efficiency of a plant (see
below).
Energy Managers Toolkit
The ‘Energy Managers Toolkit’ is an online software application to help plastics processors
understand how energy is being used at their plant and how to save energy and money. The
toolkit gives an overview of the energy that a plant purchases and the major systems that
consume energy and provides a report that helps the user understand where the largest
opportunities are for energy and cost saving.
The toolkit guides the user through a series of questions relating to the energy efficiency of
their organisation and compares the results to European averages and best practice
guidance. It also helps the user to look more closely at individual processes within the plant
and evaluate key areas for attention.
The RECIPE consortium developed two versions of the toolkit, the ‘Quick Check’ and the
‘Energy Review’. The aim was for those that did not have time to complete the full version
could complete the ‘Quick Check’ and see an estimate of the savings they could make if
they achieved the benchmark. They would then, hopefully, return to the toolkit to complete
the ‘Energy Review’ to find out how to make the savings. A checklist was provided at the
start of both versions for users to collate the information required before starting the review.
The ‘Quick Check’
The ‘Quick Check’ provides the user with a comparison of their organisations performance
against the benchmark for the European Union. It also estimates the potential savings a user
could make if they reached the benchmark or improved upon it.
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The ‘Quick Check’ uses the following information to assess the energy efficiency of an
organisation:
Annual electricity consumption
Annual gas consumption
Annual oil consumption
Annual LPG consumption
Tonnage of polymer processes in the same period
Cost of energy in the same period
Users enter their data and are provided with a summary of their Site ‘Specific Energy
Consumption’, how they compare to the benchmark and potential savings if they reached
the benchmark. A copy of the summary is also sent by email.
The ‘Energy Review’
The ‘Energy Review’ provides the user with a comparison of their organisations performance
against the benchmark for the European Union. It also estimates the potential savings a user
could make if they reached the benchmark, or even if improved on it. The ‘Energy Review’
also supplies an action plan for both the management of energy within an organisation and
for technical improvements relevant to the processes operated on a site.
The questions for the detailed assessment are based on the benchmarking survey carried out
in WP1 and information contained in the Best Practice Guide (WP2). To complete the review,
users enter information relating to:
Annual tonnage of plastics material processed
Annual electricity consumption
Annual gas consumption
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Annual oil consumption
Annual LPG consumption
Annual energy costs
Size and numbers of machines
RECIPE
Users enter details on their company and its operations
Next, information relating to energy usage and energy management practices and attitudes is
entered
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Finally, questions to relating to the specific processes carried out in the organisations are
answered
Users are provided with a summary of their Site Specific Energy Consumption, a management
action plan
a technical action plan specific to their process and links to further useful information
The Deliverable
The RECIPE ‘Energy Managers
Toolkit’ was made available through
the website at www.eurecipe.com.
553 users registered to use the
system to assess the energy
efficiency of their plant.
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Chapter
8 Dissemination
Dissemination of the project activities, progress and deliverables to a broad audience within
the plastics processing was one of the most important and successful elements of RECIPE. As
well as promoting the project, the dissemination programme included topics relating to
reducing energy consumption in plastics processing within a broader business context, e.g. in
terms of cost savings, and meeting wider environmental commitments.
In total, over 300 different dissemination activities were recorded during the RECIPE project,
including seminars, newsletters, project website, press releases, e-zines, posters and
publications.
Review and Present New Ideas
The primary aim of this activity was to collate and distribute information on the latest energyreducing technologies and materials developments to the European plastics processing
industry. In order to do so, a bi-annual newsletter was published which also promoted the
broader aims and outcomes of the project.
During RECIPE, 6 newsletters were published in both printed and electronic formats and over
5,000 copies of each issue distributed. Each issue was also made available as a download
from www.eurecipe.com and users of the website were also invited to register to receive a
copy.
Manufacturers and suppliers of energy efficient equipment and products were invited to
supply case studies and information to be included in the newsletters. Contributors included:
Omron-Yaskawa (European leader in industrial speed drive manufacturing), Coolmation,
Belesta, Werner Koch Maschinentechnik GmbH and Krauss Maffei.
The Deliverable
Six RECIPE newsletters were published, three in printed format and three electronic e-zine
versions. Each newsletter was widely disseminated and distributed at exhibitions,
conferences, seminars and workshops. In addition, copies were sent to organisations on
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request and to consortium partners member companies, e.g. the British Plastics Federation
distributed copies to their members at group meetings.
Issue 1: 5,000 printed copies
Issue 2: 25,000+ electronic
Issue 3: 5,000 printed copies
distributed
copies distributed
distributed
Issue 4: 25,000+ electronic
Issue 5: 25,000+ electronic
Issue 6: 5,000 printed copies
copies distributed
copies distributed
distributed
The Project Website
The RECIPE website (www.eurecipe.com) was the most important tool in disseminating the
aims and objectives of the project and reaching a wide audience. The website provides
access to the project deliverables and information on reducing energy consumption in
plastics processing. All the major pages of the website are available in the six project
languages, French, German, Spanish, Danish, English and Italian.
Users of the website are invited to register to receive further information and access all areas
of the site. A target of 5,000 registrations was set at the start of the project and 2,166 users
registered to access the whole site and a further 1,328 registered to only receive a copy of
the Best Practice Guide (total 3,494).
Registrations were received from users in 91 different countries and representing 89% of the
EU-27.
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Home page of the RECIPE website (www.eurecipe.com)
The Deliverable
The website content was updated periodically to reflect the progress of the project. It
included:
Home Page
A brief outline of the project
Register
Registration facility to receive updates on the RECIPE project and access the deliverables
About RECIPE
Details of the objectives, aims and partners,
Energy Saving Tools
Information about the Toolkit and Cost of Ownership Model
Energy Managers Toolkit
How to carry out ‘The Quick Check’ and ‘Energy Review’
Best Practice Guide
A facility to receive a copy of ‘Low Energy Plastics Processing: A European Best Practice
Guide’
Downloads
Presentations, factsheets, newsletters, reports, Best Practice Guides, case studies
News
RECIPE press releases and other relevant articles
Get Involved
How to participate in RECIPE
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The website has been available throughout the lifetime of the project and will remain ‘live’ for
a further two years minimum.
Press Releases and Publications
Dissemination through the trade press was an important element in raising the profile and
disseminating the RECIPE project. Over 100 articles were published on RECIPE in
approximately 85 different publications (in both electronic and printed formats).
Examples of published press releases
FONA (15 Aug 2005)
British Plastics & Rubber
BPF Annual Review (2005)
(30 Jan 2007)
In addition to sending press releases to trade journals for publication, an e-zine was also sent
to registered users of the RECIPE website and contacts of the partners. This was a cost-
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effective and simple method of targeting a large number of companies and in particular
SMES. The e-zines generally focused on one topic, e.g. the launch of a deliverable, a seminar
taking place, and helped to raise the awareness of the project. Following the distribution of
an e-zine it was possible to see an increase in the number of registrations to the website and
downloads of the Best Practice Guide
Articles on RECIPE were also included in the Intelligent Energy Executive Agency newsletter
(Issue Nos. 2, 3, 4 & 5) and a project factsheet and presentation slides made available to
download from the website.
Seminars and Presentations
In order to promote the RECIPE project and its deliverables as well as help the European
plastics processing industry understand the issues of energy efficiency and reducing their
consumption, the consortium organised and participated in over 15 seminars across Europe.
RECIPE seminar at FAKUMA 2006, Germany
RECIPE seminar at K2007, Germany
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Posters, Flyers and Dissemination Material
A number of RECIPE posters were designed and printed
to promote the project at exhibitions, seminars and
trade fairs.
Different flyers and dissemination materials were developed for the events attended by the
RECIPE consortium.
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Chapter
9 Conclusions
RECIPE was a three-year project to provide European plastics processors with the tools,
knowledge and justification to reduce their energy consumption through the implementation
of best practice and the introduction of new technologies.
The project consortium has developed a number of industry specific tools, written a
comprehensive and informative Best Practice Guide and carried out a successful
dissemination programme, including participation in seminars, exhibitions and conferences, a
bi-annual newsletter and publication of press releases in trade journals and press.
ENER-Plast
Following the successes of the RECIPE project, six RECIPE partners (Rapra, BPF, AIMPLAS, PEP,
CRIF and Fraunhofer-ICT) and five new organisations (Tomas Bata University in Zlin, TECOS, ISQ,
CARMA and CENTIMFE) developed the ENER-Plast project. ENER-Plast (EIE/07/052/SI2.466695)
builds on the work of RECIPE and looks at energy efficiency throughout the whole
manufacturing process, from product concept and design through to assembly and
distribution. It is anticipated that RECIPE will continued to be disseminated and valorised
throughout ENER-Plast, for example:
The publication ‘Low Energy Plastics Processing: A European Best Practice Guide’ will
be promoted to participants of ENER-Plast.
The ‘Cost of Ownership Model’ will be valorised in the new project as it links closely
with one of the work packages (Energy Efficient Equipment and Products)
The results of the ‘2005 European Benchmarking Survey of Energy Consumption and
Adoption of Best Practice’ will be used in the development of a ‘Carbon Impact
Calculator’
The factsheets and information resources developed during the RECIPE project will
provide additional material for the ENER-Plast ‘Information Library’ and promote the
results of RECIPE well beyond the lifetime of the project.
Further information on ENER-Plast can be found at www.enerplast.eu.
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Key Results
A project website (www.eurecipe.com) has been established which helps with the
dissemination of information on reducing the energy consumption of the plastics
processing industry. The website will be available for at least another two years and its
existence will be promoted during the ENER-Plast project.
The RECIPE website has a high ranking on Internet search engines when looking for topics
relating to energy efficiency and the plastics industry. As a result, enquiries have been
received not only from EU member states but from countries such as New Zealand,
Canada, United States and Argentina. The organisation ‘Plastics New Zealand’ have
shown a great deal of interest in the project are looking to developing a similar
programme for their industry.
Over 2,000 copies of ‘Low Energy Plastics Processing: A European Best Practise Guide’
have been downloaded demonstrating that there was a need for such a publication
within the industry.
Over 300 different dissemination activities/events were recorded from publication of press
releases in a trade journal to giving a presentation at an international event. The
dissemination programme was one of the key achievements of the RECIPE project.
Members of the RECIPE consortium are now asked to participate in events organised by
external companies to present and discuss information on energy efficiency in the plastics
processing industry.
Finally, the RECIPE project has established a ‘specific energy consumption’ benchmark for
European plastics processors and enables them to calculate their own energy
consumption and compare themselves against the average.
Conclusions
There are many reasons for wanting to improve your energy efficiency, however, the most
compelling reason for the plastics processing industry is that wasting energy costs money and
this is reflected in the bottom line. With rising energy costs, soaring raw material prices and
the impacts of climate change, the need to monitor and reduce energy consumption is
more important than ever before.
Energy costs continued to increase throughout the three-years of the RECIPE project and the
plastics processing industry is facing immense difficulty in passing on these increases to their
customers. However, the industry-specific tools, information resources and applications
developed by the RECIPE project will help companies to understand and manage their
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energy consumption more efficiently and therefore saving money which in turn will help to
increase their profit!
It has been clear that there was a need for a project such as RECIPE specifically targeting the
industry by the large numbers of website registrations and downloads of the Best Practice
Guide and Energy Managers Toolkit. The resources will be made available through
www.eurecipe.com for a minimum of two more years and enhanced by the resources during
the ENER-Plast project.
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